Sberbank announces the start of a joint programme with IIDF (Internet Initiative Development Foundation) to develop financial technology start-ups.
Sberbank is interested in start-ups that work on projects involving financial services, personal finance management systems, big data and analysis, optimisation of the processes of financial organisations, financial advisors and loyalty programmes. The primary requirement is for projects that develop financial or existing banking or other services and solutions by providing a convenient, low-cost, secure and transparent ecosystem of services for retail and corporate clients.
Projects will be selected and developed as part of IIDF’s Accelerator. Sberbank’s experts will mentor and provide expert support to the fledgling teams for the duration of the accelerator. The best start-ups will receive investment from the bank, as well as the opportunity to launch joint pilot projects.
“The banking market is changing rapidly. Banks are competing more and more for clients who value convenient and fast services. At the same time, we understand that the effectiveness of work with big data and the depth and quality of data processing is one of the main global trends, and also have significant potential to develop in this area. We want to work with promising teams who are working on projects in these areas. We will engage the most promising start-ups in order to help solve the tasks that Sberbank is facing,” commented Mikhail Erenburg, Senior Vice President, Director of the Digital Business Development Directorate at Sberbank.
“Only together with partner companies is it possible for start-ups to enter new markets. The combination of IIDF’s business expansion expertise and access to Sberbank’s industry expertise will provide young teams with the unique capability to understand the specifics of the banking sector and in future enter this market,” commented Yevgeny Borisov, Development Director at IIDF.
Applications to participate in the FinTech accelerator can be submitted via Sberbank’s website (http://www.sberbank.ru/ru/startups) until June 23, 2016 inclusive. The accelerator will begin on September 22, 2016. Sberbank will review start-ups that have a team of at least two people, the proper legal registration for their project, and a ready prototype or demo version of a product that can be presented to users.